Witchcraft for Wayward Girls

This is the story of a group of wayward girls at Wellwood House in St. Augustine, Florida. What makes them “wayward,” you ask? Well, it’s because they’re anywhere from thirteen to sixteen and they’re all a number of months pregnant. It’s the summer of 1970, and they’ve all been sent away to give birth, have their babies fostered away, and then return to their normal teenage lives. Except the next six months will be anything but normal, as they are treated by the staff of Wellwood like sub-humans who made life’s greatest mistake and must suffer accordingly for it.

And yet, while they grow bigger and perhaps grow meeker, our main character Fern is given a book by the library, a strange, slim occult book with a collection of spells and rules for magic. The strange thing is the book keeps changing, with new spells showing up as their thoughts of witchcraft change.

You will fall in love with the girls in Witchcraft for Wayward Girls and care about them deeply, and that is Grady Hendrix’s goal. Because they were shunned by society, often through no fault of their own, and now they get to have their stories told.